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Small D. WEst Injury Update

Mar 25, 2011, 12:34 AM EDT

UPDATE March 25, 12:34 am: The Hornets are officially calling this “left knee trauma” (which is a pretty scary term) but said in a release that the X-rays are negative. He will have an MRI before the team discusses the severity of the injury.

Al Jefferson of the Jazz said he hopes he is wrong but to him it looked like the injury was major and compared it to when Jefferson tore his ACL, reports Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake City Tribune via twitter. If you’ve seen the video it’s hard to think it is anything but something serious.

March 24, 11:31 pm: This looked horrible, sickeningly bad. We can only hope the actual injury the Hornets leading scorer David West isn’t as bad as it looked.

With the Hornets down two and 10 seconds left against Utah, West started a drive from the left wing and got to the basket, where Paul Millsap came to challenge but was late. West tied the game at 103-103 with a dunk.

But he landed awkwardly on his left leg and West’s knee buckled under him in one of those ways that makes all of us watching the replay just cringe. One of those where a knee is not meant to bend that way.

West fell next to the station and while play continued on you could hear West on the broadcast screaming in pain. Team medical staff came out and he was eventually taken off the floor in a wheelchair.

We do not know the extent of the injuries but check PBT for updates as we get them.

This injury could have big playoff implications. The Hornets are currently the seven seed in the Western Conference but just half a game ahead of the Grizzlies in the in the eight spot. The Rockets are 2.5 games back in the nine seed and missing the playoffs all together. Obviously, the Hornets are not the same team if West cannot play.

Also, West was expected to opt out of the $7.5 million he was owed next season and test the free agent market. Where he would have attracted a lot of suitors. If this is serious it could change all of that.

We hope, for West and the Hornets’ sake, it’s not as bad as it looked.